Nikolas
A spelling of the Greek name behind Mikołaj, meaning "victory of the people". Most Poles have never met one: it stays rare and strictly a boys' name, though newborn numbers are ticking back up.
Nikolas Pronunciation
Nikolas is pronounced nyee-KO-lahs (/ɲiˈkɔlas/).
What Nikolas means
Where Nikolas comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Nikolas grows from the Greek Nikolaos, built from nikē, victory, and laos, the people. Read literally, those two roots give the short meaning that has trailed the name for centuries: victory of the people. The Greeks who coined it were naming a kind of triumph that belonged to a crowd rather than to one hero.
In Poland the name arrives with a well known relative. Mikołaj is its variant. Most children meet that form first, through Święty Mikołaj and the imieniny kept on the sixth of December, when a Mikołaj in the class register might expect a small gift. Nikolas holds the Greek spelling more tightly, the k and the s sitting where the older language left them.
So the name says something plain about numbers and belonging. Its victory is shared. Whoever carries it carries laos, the people, folded into the second half of victory of the people.
How many people are named Nikolas
1 in 9475 men in Poland is named Nikolas. 2,253 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #675 among male names.
Nikolas's popularity over time
58 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #329 among newborns. It has been stable for a decade.
Where parents choose Nikolas
Nikolas is most popular in West Pomeranian, 67% above the national average (21 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lubusz (+62%) and Silesian (+53%). It is least common in Holy Cross and Opole, 76% and 71% below average respectively.
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West Pomeranian
+67%1 in 4,020 babies
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Lubusz
+62%1 in 4,138 babies
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Silesian
+53%1 in 4,377 babies
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Holy Cross
−76%1 in 27,717 babies
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Opole
−71%1 in 23,048 babies
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Podlaskie
−59%1 in 16,447 babies
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West Pomeranian+67% 21 born1 in 4,020 babies+67%
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Lubusz+62% 12 born1 in 4,138 babies+62%
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Silesian+53% 52 born1 in 4,377 babies+53%
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Pomeranian+46% 32 born1 in 4,604 babies+46%
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Łódź+43% 27 born1 in 4,693 babies+43%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+23% 20 born1 in 5,469 babies+23%
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Greater Poland+6% 34 born1 in 6,331 babies+6%
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Lower Silesian+3% 24 born1 in 6,547 babies+3%
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Warmian-Masurian−16% 9 born1 in 7,977 babies−16%
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Subcarpathian−22% 14 born1 in 8,612 babies−22%
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Lesser Poland−26% 25 born1 in 9,077 babies−26%
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Masovian−30% 37 born1 in 9,575 babies−30%
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Lublin−54% 7 born1 in 14,668 babies−54%
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Podlaskie−59% 4 born1 in 16,447 babies−59%
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Opole−71% 2 born1 in 23,048 babies−71%
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Holy Cross−76% 2 born1 in 27,717 babies−76%
Nikolas as a middle name
Nikolas is a first name for 2,253 men in Poland and a middle name for another 382, an 86/14 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 362nd, between Apoloniusz (383) and Pablo (381).
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#360 André383
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#361 Apoloniusz383
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#362 Nikolas382
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#363 Pablo381
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#364 Gwidon379